


universe's error

by fructoseintolerant



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, M/M, Romance, Soulmates, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:54:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27589154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fructoseintolerant/pseuds/fructoseintolerant
Summary: This is the truth : Ten loves JohnnyThis is also the truth : Ten isn't Johnny's soulmate
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Qian Kun
Comments: 10
Kudos: 111
Collections: Challenge #3 — soulmates





	universe's error

“Are you sure this is the right place?”

Johnny leaned forward to get a better view of the GPS. He squinted his eyes. “Yeah.” Johnny unbuckled his seatbelt. “Let’s go.”

When Johnny told him he had already found the perfect studio to record their song, Ten imagined something that’s more _professional_ , and not this shady looking place. But he followed Johnny nonetheless. There’s choreography waiting for him to finish and he needed the song first. After all, what would a dance be without its music?

There was a man-made wind greeting them when Johnny opened the glass door. “Hello?”

Contrasting to how ugly the exterior is, the inside of the studio is decent. Sure, there were a few decorations that seemed out of place and the colour coordination was bad—much like a mess of colour pallete—but it only made the whole place look more cozy. Homey, one would say. Other than that, the place seemed pretty much empty.

Ten nudged Johnny with his elbow. “I think this place is empty, John. C’mon, let’s go somewhere else.”

Johnny looked around and his eyes stayed a little longer on the vinyls on the wall before sighing. “Yeah, okay.”

But they halted their step when there was a sound of steps on the stairs. They turned to the stair, all the way through the aisle of vinyls and instruments collection. 

“Wait! I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear anything from upstairs, the room is soundpro—oh, are you going to leave already?” the man rambled, walking towards them hastily. His face turned so sad that Ten thought it was very pathetic of him.

“Oh, no! We’re going to leave because we thought this studio is empty!” Johnny hurriedly says, weak to the puppy eyes.

“Oh, then, how may I help you?”

Ten raised his index finger. “We need to record something." 

The man’s eyes lit up so fast. He clasped his hands together. “Great! You came to the right place!”

Ten only pursed his lips into a thin line, eyes squinting in a not-so-sincere smile.

“So, should we introduce ourselves first?” Johnny suggested, “Since we’re going to work together for some time.”

The man timidly smiled. “Ah, okay then. My name’s Taeyong and this is actually my father’s studio.”

Johnny extended his hand, and smiled. “Nice to meet you, I'm Johnny.”

Ten scoffed. Johnny surely wouldn’t miss a chance to get all touchy with beautiful people. He stared at Johnny’s hand, and also his veiny arm. Then to Taeyong’s hand that hesitantly tried to take Johnny’s hand into his.

Eventually, Johnny took Taeyong’s hand midway, impatient. And then Ten saw the glint on both of their eyes.

They froze in place, hands still connected. Eyes never strayed even an inch from each other.

“Johnny?” Ten called him.

Johnny was still in his place, unmoving, paralyzed. 

“Johnny?” he called again.

And after Ten took a step back—after seeing the paused movie scene framed only by shelves of vinyl collections—he brought a hand to his mouth. No way.

He should’ve realized sooner how Johnny’s and Taeyong’s eyes twinkled in awe. How their eyes tried to adjust to the new scenery. How they finally found their colour. And how perfect they look together.

Ten felt like intruding.

They were the main characters and this is the story of how they met. Ten was just an extra who stood awkwardly in the corner, a supporting character. Though not so sure about the whole supporting thing.

“Did you,” Johnny swallowed his saliva, “Did you see it?” he said, voice dripping with wonder. It was a whisper and Ten shouldn’t have eavesdropped.

“Johnny, your hair, it’s _red_ ," Taeyong said, pointing to the red strands on Johnny's head and looking around the place. "And this place is, _nasty_.” The once that was just a different shades of grey in theur eyes turned into a whole set of oil pastel.

“And yours is blue,” Johnny chuckled. He took Taeyong’s other hand, intertwining them the same way the universe intertwine their fate. “Taeyong, I think we’re _soulmates_.”

Soulmate.

Ten didn’t know what Taeyong said after that or how he react. He never got the chance to when he ran away right after he heard the term soulmate. 

He ignored Johnny's car blocking his way and went away. Maybe Ten did called himself stupid numerous times while running back to his dorm and hit his head in embarrassment for running away, but he couldn’t remember it at all when he reached his dorm. His mind was only a broken cassette that played the moment earlier a million times.

No one ever reminds him that years of friendship doesn't equal to them being soulmates. Nor countless phone calls on rainy days, or post-it exchanges in a quiet classroom, or even the hushed whispers inside the tent when they hike together.

Ten had thought it would mean at least something.

He buried himself in the mount of pillows and plushies. His phone rang a few times and there were notifications on his phone. But Ten didn’t dare to even see it, he already knew. That afternoon, Ten put a tear or two on the pillow but it was nobody’s business.

That afternoon, Ten broke his promise to record the song together only to take a nap. And woke up somewhere between a rumble of his stomach and 8 pm.

Ten groaned as he stretched his stiff arms. Sweatshirt clinging to his back from the sweat from the heat of plushies all over his body. “Fuck.” Ten dug his way out of a mount of plushies.

The room was dark. Although he remembered nothing about turning off the lamp. And when the door opened to reveal his roommate, he finally understood why.

“Ten, c’mon. The food’s ready.”

Ten groaned at the light peeking from the gap between the door and the white wall. “I’m not hungry.”

“Crying makes you hungry. And I heard your stomach grumble in your sleep.” Kun waved his spatula around. “C’mon, let’s eat.”

Ten sat up and stared at his own feet blearily. “So you knew.”

Kun didn't answer right away and the oil from the spatula threatened to drop on Ten's floor at any given moment. “Let’s,” Kun said, “Just eat, okay?”

Kun didn’t wait for the answer as he closed the door. When the room went back to its previous darkness, Ten reached for his phone. There were many notifications and his eyes ached from the light.

_From : Johnny_

_you alright?_

_you left me alone in the studio :(_

Ten stared at Johnny’s last message. His fingers hovered over the keypads, searching for the suitable answer. It ranged between things he hated himself for thinking about it, to something that was almost pathetic.

 _I’m sorry, I had some business_. Ten pressed backspace.

 _My stomach hurt_. Ten pressed backspace.

 _You’re not alone, you already found your soulmate_. Ten aggressively pressed backspace.

At the end, he settled with the most boring answer. _I’m sorry, I need to do something else. See you next Saturday?_

He shoved his phone away. Not wanting to get caught reading Johnny’s message right away if Johnny answered. He groaned. Maybe he should've just said next life because Ten sure didn't have the guts to face Johnny next Saturday. 

Reluctantly, he went out of his room.

Kun was already back into the kitchen, humming a certain melody. Probably his newest track.

"What are we eating?" Ten asked Kun's broad back. Kun's humming stopped midway, but not the movement of his spatula. 

"I thought you said that the food is ready," Ten complained, taking a seat on his side of the table.

"The food will be ready by the time you come out of the room. But you're early, I guess," Kun said, placing the stir fried vegetables into two plates on the counter.

Ten frowned. "I don't like vegetables."

Kun clicked his tongue, glaring at Ten. "It's good for you. Eat."

Kun placed one plate in front of Ten and one on his side of the table. For once, Ten hated how their seat was facing each other. He'd rather face the atrocious looking meal on the table. So he did just that.

Neither of them prayed before savoring their food. It was already late for dinner and assignments awaited them. There was no time. And Ten found himself eating the vegetables eagerly. Kun really had this talent of turning something that was supposed to be not good into a tasty meal.

But still, Ten made no sound to praise him and stayed silent.

It was Kun who broke the silence. "It's Saturday," Kun started.

Ten chewed on one piece of carrot. "It is."

"Aren't you supposed to be in the studio with Johnny?"

"Plan changed."

"Isn't it supposed to be a collaboration between you and Johnny? And the deadline is already—"

"Plan changed," Ten said, a little louder and harsher than before. He looked up to Kun's blank face. "I'm sorry."

He didn't realize how hard he was gripping his fork until Kun put his warm hand on it. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Ten said, trying to be independent. But his voice cracked in the middle of the simple sentence.

Ten swallowed down his embarrassment along with the vegetables and finished his plate in a minute. He pulled his hand away, muttering a few false excuses about wanting to study or something and left the kitchen.

Back to his room, he finally realized that he actually had nothing to do. So he sat on his bed. Laptop on his laps with a blinking cursor, matching with his blink every second or two.

He thought for a while. Reliving his memories. And all that showed up was Johnny. He didn't know since when he associated all of his happy memories with Johnny. Maybe it was because Johnny was in there almost all of the time. How cruel of the universe to ruin his memories.

Ten sighed, and looked up when heard a knock. It followed with a familiar voice, soothing and warm. "Ten, do you want some noodles?"

"No," Ten said, loud enough to be heard without opening his door. He pretended to write something just for Kun to hear the taps against the keyboard.

"Or maybe hot chocolate? You ate so little earlier," Kun continued.

Ten sighed. He got up from the bed and opened the door. Kun was there, already holding two cups of hot chocolate. He smiled, dimples and all. "I know you don't want to gain weight by eating noodles at this hour—you're a dancer after all. But I think, hot chocolate is fine?"

Ten stared at the hot chocolate in Kun's hand then to his smiley face. Ten wanted to cry.

"Why are you so nice to me?" Ten said, voice cracking near the end. 

Kun went quiet but his smile stayed loud. The steam from the mugs he was holding blurred out his glasses and Ten tried hard to focus on his eyes.

It was boring to wait for Kun's answer, so Ten looked down to the mugs. A pair of matching mugs his mother bought for him. A preparation for college that came with other things. His blanket, his plushies, his slipper, and many things he stores inside his room. 

His mother purposefully bought the mugs for them. One for Kun and one for Ten.

Ten loves them. They were pink and blue. His own is blue, with a drawing of a whale on it. While Kun's has a drawing of a butterfly on it. They don't even match, but it surely came in a set. 

Ten raked his eyes up to Kun's sweater, brown with a tint of green here and there. Then up to his hair.

"You dyed your hair," Ten said just now noticing. "It's dark blue." 

Kun smiled, though not quite reaching his eyes. "You look pretty with blonde."

Ten chuckled and the force of it made his eyes crinkled. And the crinkle forced the tears to come out as well. "Why are you so nice to me?"  
  
Kun only smiled and Ten's heart ached from it.

"I'm your soulmate, Ten. Remember?"

_Of course. Of course Ten could never forget about it._

_Ten knew Johnny had found his soulmate the moment he met Taeyong because Ten did the same when he met Kun._

"Stupid Kun," Ten muttered, face scrunched up ugly from crying. He took his mugs from Kun's hand.

"I'm not, and remember to drink slowly, it's really—Ten?" Kun asked in confusion when Ten removed both of the mugs and placed them on his desk. "It's mine—"

Kun certainly wasn't prepared for Ten to hug him. His hands floated awkwardly in the air. "Ten?"

 _"Stupid, stupid, stupid,"_ Ten muttered against Kun's chest, rubbing some of his snots and tears on Kun's beloved sweater.

Kun slowly lowered his hands until they were rested on the small of Ten's back. They fit together in a hug and Ten despised the fact. he sobbed as he felt a pat on his back. And it continued. 

"Don't curse me while you're hugging me. Give me a clear signal, don't confuse me," Kun said, voice soft but still made his chest vibrate.

Ten sobbed. "I'm not saying that to you," he whispered.

"Mhm?"

"I said, I'm not saying that to you. It's me. I'm the stupid one," Ten said.

Kun chuckled and his chest rumbled. "No you're not. Something else happened, right? I want to hear it but only if you're comfortable with it, okay?"

Ten let go of Kun. He wiped his runny nose and took a deep breath. "Johnny found his soulmate," he breathed out. "And I'm not his."

"Oh."

"It was stupid of me to think that I could go against the universe. I held on to the hope that he hadn't met his soulmate yet and forced myself into it. But now," Ten said, amused by his ridiculousness, "Now that he had found his soulmate—"

Kun pulled him into a hug again, muffling the incoherent sound Ten let out into his chest. He felt Ten's arms linked themselves into his back soon after.

"It's not stupid Ten. You're not stupid. Loving is not stupid," Kun said.

"Yeah it is. I hurt you, my soulmate. You gave my world colour and yet I never repay you," Ten wailed.

"You gave my world colour too, Ten. You came into my life and that's enough. I love you for it," Kun whispered. He hugged Ten a little tighter. "I," Kun paused, "Love you."

There was a sickening silence and Kun was afraid to even swallow his saliva. Ten might heard it.

"Don't. It's not real." Ten let go and wiped his eyes on his sleeve. Not caring whether it would make his eyes swell even more.

Soulmate is the worst thing the universe came up with. Forcing people to be together? This kind of love is artificial. Too sweet on his tongue. Ten hates it.

Kun shook his head. "It's real. And I'll keep it that way."

"What if I fail to love you back?"

Kun only smiled timidly. "Then I guess we're just an error in this perfect universe."

Ten blinked. He figured that wiping off his tears would be useless since it would come out again. This time, he let them fall onto his face. A tear. And then two tears, and then it became a steady flow.

"Why are you crying? Don't cry." Kun said, wiping off the tears with his thumb and Ten bursted out into tears.

"Oh my God," Ten exclaimed, falling into a crouching position. He buried his face into his palm.

Kun followed suit. "Ten! Are you okay?"

"Stop being so kind to me!" Ten yelled, though Kun knew it was just a bark. Kun smiled. He stroked Ten's back repeatedly to soothe him. 

"I might fall for you," Ten whispered.

"What?" 

"Nothing. I'm just overwhelmed."

"Heard it, though."

Ten gasped. "God, I'm still trying to move on from Johnny! Just let me be!"

Kun chuckled. "I did nothing!"

"Yes you did! You're being so kind and smiling and—and," Ten stopped midway, thoughts fleeted away the moment he focused on Kun's face. 

His mouth gaped a few times before he turned away. "Forget it. I'm too sober for this. I need some drink," Ten said, shoving Kun away. Kun only chuckled and followed Ten to the kitchen, bringing the hot chocolate as well. It has turned lukewarm in his hold.

"I thought you have a class tomorrow."

"I'll survive. I just need some drinks tonight." Ten hastily slammed open the fridge.

"It's already 2 am."

Ten opened a bottle and chugged it down. He wiped his mouth with the back of his palm and arched a brow. "And your point is?"

Kun smiled. "Nothing." He took a bottle from the fridge and clinked it with Ten's. Ten smiled for the first time that night.

"You know what, let's watch some romance movies we could shit on," Ten suggested.

"I love romance movies though," Kun said, making himself comfortable on the couch while Ten set up Kun's laptop, scrolling to endless options on the internet. 

"This looks shitty," Ten said, showing Kun the disastrous movie poster.

Kun sipped on his drink. "Bring it on."

" _In The Mood for Love_? Okay." Ten jumped onto the couch once he placed the laptop. He settled beside Kun, upper arms connected awkwardly until Kun moved his arm only to sling it over Ten's shoulder.

Kun didn't say a thing. And Ten didn't want to escape the warmth as well, for tonight only.

And perhaps, somewhere between 5 am and the realization that he had—indeed—fallen asleep on Kun's chest on the couch, Ten said those three famous words to sleeping Kun. Or so he thought, until he felt Kun's arms looping themselves on his body.

"Me too, Ten."

**Author's Note:**

> [sigh] i need someone to be the kun to my ten


End file.
